Baseball Headline

Friday January 25, 2013UF Baseball Quotes From Opening Day Of Practice

Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, sophomore Josh Tobias (Greensboro,
N.C.), sophomore Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and senior Vickash
Ramjit (Miami, Fla.)of the Gator baseball team met with the media
on Friday prior to their first practice of the 2013 campaign. The Gators will begin
their season on Feb. 15, when Duke visits McKethan Stadium for the opener of a
three-game series.

Head
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan

Thoughts
on this year’s Gator team:

“We’re
working hard; obviously we have a lot of new faces. I do like our pitching; I
like our defense. Obviously, our offense is going to be young; it’s going to be
a work in progress but we certainly have enough to be successful.”

On
looking forward to coaching this team:

“I look
forward to it every year. It’s our first practice; the weather is great. We’ve
had some great players come through here the last five years, but now it’s time
for these players to make a name for themselves. They have worked extremely
hard and we’re just anxious to get started.”

On
having more speed instead of power:

“Our
offense is going to be different this year and I think offensively how you
coach and how you approach things as a coaching staff change from year-to-year
depending on the personnel. Our personnel is different; it is what it is, but
it certainly could be as successful, we just have to do it a different way.”

On
(Mike) Zunino leaving for the professional ranks and sophomore Taylor (Gushue)
stepping in behind the plate:

“Obviously, losing a
player like Mike (Zunino); you’re just not going to replace him. But, with
respect to Taylor (Gushue), I’m really pleased with where he’s at. Defensively,
he’s come light years and he’s going to have to hit in the middle of the order
and he’s certainly capable of it. We recruited him for a reason; he came here
early, he made a huge commitment to us and our school and to our program. It’s
his time to go and we’re surely comfortable with him.”

On
the various lineup possibilities in the outfield:

“(Justin)
Shafer is going to be in the outfield; Harrison Bader has done a really nice
job in the fall, Vickash Ramjit is probably the swing guy; he can play first
base or right field. We probably need a couple of guys to step up. I’d love to
leave him (Ramjit) at first because I think he’s got the chance to be one of
the best defensive first basemen in the country but he’s also good enough to
play outfield; kind of like Preston (Tucker) was for us. So, it’s all going to
depend on how much some of those freshmen develop to have a chance to play
first base. Zack Powers has a chance to play some first base; Brady Roberson, Kevin
Stypulkowski; and if one of those guys can develop, we’d feel much more
comfortable at first base. Or if Cory Reid, Christian Dicks or some of these
other outfielders develop then we can keep Vickash at first base. So, we’ve
still got some questions there.”

Who
he’s comfortable with after losing so many pitchers from last year’s bullpen:

“I think
it’s really early. Obviously, from the starting pitching standpoint; (Karsten) Whitson,
(Jonathon) Crawford; the third spot is still up in the air a little bit. We do
want to find someone that we can trust at the end of the ballgame and if we can
find that, then we’ll figure out the Sunday starter. I feel that, kind of like
our position players, we have quite a few pitchers that could probably do
both.”

On freshman
infielder Richie Martin:

“He’s a
very good player; very mature. He’s a civil engineering major and I think he
only made one B his first semester. He’s focused and up to this point he is our
hardest worker. From a baseball standpoint, he’s very talented. He’s got some
big shoes to fill, obviously with Nolan (Fontana) departing last year, but he’s
worked extremely hard. He can handle the bat, he’s going to hit at the top of
the order for us, and he’s going to be a mainstay in the middle of the diamond.
I feel that he and Casey (Turgeon) up the middle is as good a middle infield as
you’re going to see at this level. We’re going to throw him right in the fire
and he’ll probably be leading off for us and playing short(stop).”

“I think
very well. They’re both great kids; they work extremely hard together and we’re
very fortunate to have both those guys in our program. I think they’ve got the
chance to be one of the best, if not the best, middle infield combination in
the country.”

Casey
Turgeon

On starting
the season:

“It’s
our first practice today so we’re really excited to get out here. Everyone in
the dugout is itching for the season to start; we’re waiting for day one.”

On the
different look of the team compared to last season:

“Everyone
wants to win so it doesn’t matter who is in there; we all want to win and I’m
feeling good about it.”

On
making adjustments this season:

“It’s more
of just not having Nolan (Fontana) there and more of taking a role of being a
leader on the team this year. Other than that, I’m just going to play my game.”

On
playing with freshman Richie Martin at shortstop:

“He’s
really good and coming out here for his first game, he’s going to do really
well.”

On
taking players under his wing:

“I’m trying
to teach them everything I know. And, when they bridge it out to the field for
game one it should be good.”

On
the team being more speed-driven:

“I guess
last year everyone on the lineup could probably hit it out of the park whenever
they wanted to. This year, it’s going to be different; we’re really fast, but not
as much power. I’d say this year is going to be a lot of fun.”

On
replacing (Mike) Zunino:

“We’ve
got (Taylor) Gushue out there. He’s a good leader, a great catcher and a great
teammate so we just need to play solid defense.”

Josh
Tobias

On where
he’s practicing:

“I’ve
been taking my reps at third base. I’ve taken a few in the outfield just in
case I need to play out there, but mostly at third base.”

On
being comfortable playing in the outfield:

“I’m
comfortable anywhere. I’ve practiced in the outfield, third base and second
base, so wherever they put me, I’m comfortable playing there.”

On
his leadership role:

“It’s a
little bit different than last year because we had a lot of older guys. We have
to step up this season and teach the younger guys the road to things and talk
to them about how to go through practice and the upcoming season; we all just
take it in stride.”

On
what he’ll focus upon this year:

“My goal
is the same as last year, have fun and do everything to help my team win.”

On the
team’s identity being different this year (after guys leaving for the
professional ranks and graduation)

“It’s a
new year, and we have to find our identity as a team. Our identity is that of
winners.”

On the
Gators’ pitching staff this year:

“We have
(Jonathon) Crawford and Karsten (Whitson) and the freshmen this year are really
good. I think we’ll be set pitching-wise. They play pretty hard.”

On
running more this year:

“We’re
going to run a lot more this year, the coaches have told us that. That’s fine,
I like to run. That’s going to make our offense a lot more explosive than it
was last year.”

Vickash
Ramjit

On
filling the leadership void:

“The
guys that we lost last year - they were leaders. But, a lot of guys have
stepped up; sophomores and juniors, as well as the two seniors. Everybody is
doing their part and stepping up and playing their role as a leader.”

On
the team’s overall talent level:

“I think
the talent is there. We’re going to compete and the young guys have been
working really hard. They’ve opened our eyes a lot; we have a lot to look
forward to. At first, we didn’t know what to expect but I feel like now
everyone is ready to go.”